Nothing I say before coffee can be trusted.

Tag: projects

One Christmas while I was in college, I decided to teach myself to knit. I didn’t do this out of a desire to be crafty (in fact, I considered myself the opposite of crafty), nor was I particularly interested in making all of my own clothing. To me, knitting seemed a bit old-fasioned, but I wanted to give my friends cheap Christmas gifts and so I picked up an instruction book and went to town. Everyone has their motivations, right? Those first gifts were pretty pathetic – I wish I had pictures of the scarf I gave to my friend Hanna. It was made with a pocket knitter that I haven’t used since. The scarf probably only measured a couple of inches wide! Because winter is not something to be trifled with in Michigan, this scarf was probably the least useful item I could have made. Luckily, Hanna loves me and loved the scarf because of all its inadequacies.

Over time however, I’ve taught myself to make a lot more useful items, like scarves, hats and socks. I have really come to love knitting – it’s the perfect activity to keep my hands busy while watching TV or even hanging out with friends. I haven’t bought a winter hat in years and my ever-growing stockpile of yarn is a bit concerning. I still give my friends knitted gifts regularly, even if they are often delivered a few weeks late. I’m not exactly the most timely knitter!

I have also discovered that I can use this skill to befriend the male coworkers in my techy office. I’ve already wormed my way into their hearts through baked goods like pumpkin cheesecake, but sometimes even that isn’t enough. Apparently, the way to win the hearts and minds of a legion of male, techy coworkers is not a pair of homemade socks. Instead, it is knitted and stuffed dinosaurs! Yes, all of my coworkers
are secretly 5 years old.

Knitted Dinosaurs are actually pretty awesome.

One particularly fantastic coworker bought a book chock full of dinosaur patterns. You might not have known such a thing existed, and you also might not have known you needed one, but trust me, you do. This book has opened the doors to a series of dinosaur projects that has … well if not enriched my life, than at least made it busier. I’m making dinosaurs for coworkers, my niece and nephew, and various dino-loving friends. I even mentioned my knitted dino projects to a prospective date on PlentyOfFish.com and he professed that he would love me forever if I made him a Reptar. What girl can refuse an offer like that?

The instructions in the book are pretty easy to follow, and offer a lot of freedom for creativity. This is key, because my niece has specifically requested a Triceratops that looks like Trixie from Toy Story 3. Also, everyone I have made dinos for has seemed to enjoy the process of picking out the colors of their future stuffed friend.

To date, I have knitted a Velociraptor, an Ankylosaurus, a T-Rex, and am in the process of creating a Triceratops! They turned out pretty awesome, if I do say so myself: